Gas supplying method and device



Feb. 12, 1935. c w HEYLANDT Re. 19,458

mgsunmnue METHOD AND DEVICE THEREFOR Original Filed Feb. 16, 1928ATTORNEYS Reissued Feb. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GASSUPPLYING METHOD AND DEVICE THEREFOR Christian Wilhelm Paul Heylandt,Berlin-Brits, Germany, assignor to Fluga. Aktiengesellschaft,

St. Moritz, Switzerland,

Switzerland Original No. 1,826,248,

a corporation of dated October 6, 1931,

6 Claims.

. This invention relates to a method and apparatus for supplying gasunder pressure, particularlyan industrially utilizable gas characterizedby a low boiling point, such as oxygen, and which may be had fromsources other than by mechani, cal air separation; for example, that hadas a waste product from a chemical process. Such gas, when itsliquefaction has been accomplished in a suitable manner, may bedelivered to consumers in the liquid phase in receptacles designed forthe purpose and thereafter used industrially at any desired place.

In large gas producing plants, where relatively large quantities of gasare stored, but where the gas consumption is relatively small, there isa certain amount of excess gas which must be permitted to escapeuselessly into the atmosphere, so that the inability of utilizing suchgas has an important bearing on the overall efficiency of the plant.This is particularly true of those chemical processes where gases areproduced for chemical synthesis (ammonia-synthesis,electrolytic-decomposition of water and the like), especially when onlyone of two or more component gases can be used industrially, whereby therest must be allowed to escape uselessly. It is chiefly the oxygen andnitrogen components which are liberated in certain manufacturingprocesses.

In accordance with the present invention, such gaseous products aresubjected to liquefaction whereby they may be stored in the liquid phaseand occupy a relatively small amount of space, as compared withcompressed gases stored in steel cylinders, and by reason of theirsmaller shipping weight may be readily transported relatively greatdistances and utilized wherever required.

It has already been proposed to transport liquefied gases having a lowboiling point, such as oxygen, in relatively large quantities and inspecial vessels and to convert them into gas under pressure at the placeof consumption. Such gases, however, were transferred in the liquidphase at the place of consumption from the transporting vessels intoso-called cold or warm Vaporizers, in

. 150 atmospheres.

which the conversion into gas took place; in cold Vaporizers, theresulting pressure being approximately 30 atmospheres and in the warmvaporizer This method of converting the liquefied gas into gas underpressure necessitates, however, for small consumers, which represent themajority of the customers, an investment of a relatively large amount ofcapital in Vaporizers at the place of consumption.

It has also been proposed to vaporize the liquefled gas within thetransporting vessel at the place of consumption and to use it as gas ofthe desired working pressure. This is confined to cases where at theplace of consumption only low working pressures (15 atmospheres and thelike) are required, since in the case of high pressures, the vesselsmust necessarily be of exceedingly strong and heavy construction,whereby the economy of transporting the gas in the liquid phase would beoffset.

In the practice of the present invention, these limitations are overcomeby providing a portable plant on transporting means arranged forsupplying the gas, such as oxygen, under pressure; such plant includesmeans for supplying the liquid oxygen and a pressure gas producer. Themeans for supplying the liquid oxygen may be a transporting vessel whichis preferably mounted together with the pressure gas producer on asingle transporting device, for instance on a motor truck, although theymay be mounted separately.

For the purpose of supplying liquefied gas, a gas-producer and aliquefying apparatus may also be arranged in common upon thetransporting means. The liquefying apparatus may be supplied, forinstance, with a gas compressor and operated to produce liquefied gasesin a known manner. When the liquid is transported, it may be pressed bymeans of external energy into the receiver provided for it.

In the accompanying drawing, the figure shows, mainly in side elevation,an embodiment of the invention using a motor vehicle for transportingthe portable plant.

In this embodiment a motor truck 10 is shown as the transporting meansand has mounted on it a liquefied gas supplying apparatus comprising byway of example, a compressor 11, a heat interchanger 12, and a container13 for the gas material when liquefied. Associated with the liquidsupplying apparatus on the truck, there is a vaporizing apparatus 14having an inlet 15 for liquefied gas drawn from the container 13 and anoutlet 16 for gas material in the gas phase; there being a connection 17leading from the container 13 to the inlet 15 which includes suitablepressing means, such as a mechanically actuated pump 18 of a characteradapted to pump a liquefied gas, volatile at normal atmospherictemperature and pressure, for example, a liquid oxygen pump. Thecompressor 11 is preferably provided with an inlet coupling 19 by whichconnection with the source of by-product gas to be liquefied is made.

The vaporizing apparatus 14, while of any suitable form that is adaptedto deliver gas material converted from the liquid phase to the gas phaseat a relativelyhigh pressure, preferably has an artificial source ofheat and is accordingly shown as comprising a heat absorbing coil 20submerged in a bath. A delivery connection, such as coupling 21, leadsfrom the outlet 16 of the vaporizing apparatus to a consuming or storingdevice; the latter may be, for example, a plurality of storagecylinders, as shown at 22, located in any suitable place.

In operation, the liquefied gas under substantlally no pressure or undera relatively low one is transferred from the supplying apparatus to thevaporizer and is there converted into gas under such pressure (say 2000to 3000 pounds per square inch) as may be desired and, in thatcondition, is supplied to the consuming device.

The principal advantage of the present process consists in the fact thatthe consumer can be supplied much more quickly than heretofore with gasat any desired pressure without the necessity of every. consumer beingprovided with vaporizing apparatus. A further advantage is that suchgases as are obtained as by-products in the manufacture of nitrogen andhydrogen, can by this method be used, instead of permitting them toescape into the atmosphere as heretofore.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A method of dispensing a gas of a low boiling point for industrialuse at a desired pressure which comprises transferring gas material inthe liquid phase from transportable gas collecting, liquefying andsupplying apparatus, pressing the liquid against a relatively highpressure when drawn from said supplying apparatus into a transportablereceiver applying heat to said liquid for converting the same into gasat the desired high pressure, and delivering said high pressure gas ata. place of consumption.

2. A method of dispensing a gas of a low boiling point for industrialuse at a desired pressure which comprises transferring liquefied gas atintervals directly from transportable gas collecting,

' liquefying and supplying apparatus, pressing the transferred liquefiedgas by means of external energy against a high pressure, applying heatto said transferred liquid to convert the same into gas at the desiredhigh pressure, and delivering the gas produced at said high pressure foruse at a place of consumption.

3. A method of dispensing a gas of a low boiling point for industrialuse at a desired pressure which comprises collecting, compressing andliquefying gas material in a manner which provides a supply of gas inthe liquid phase at a relatively low pressure, pressing at intervals bymeans of externally obtained power, the liquefiedgas drawn from saidsupply against a high pressure, appLving heat to said withdrawn liquidsubsequently to said pressing operation whereby the gas material in theliquid phase is converted into the gas phase at a desired high pressure,and delivering said high pressure gas to a receiving device at a placeof consumption.

4. A method of dispensing a gas of low boiling point for industrial useat a. desired pressure which comprises collecting a waste gaseousproduct by means of transportable apparatus, subjecting the same toliquefaction .and temporarily storing the gaseous product in the liquidphase, transferring a desired amount of the stored liquefied gas atintervals at the place of use to a high pressure receiver by pressingthe transferred liquefied gas by means of externally obtained poweragainst the pressure in said receiver, and delivering the gas producedat said high pressure for use at the place of consumption.

5. A method of dispensing gas of low boiling point for industrial use ata desired pressure, which comprises providing a supply of collected andliquefied gas material at a relatively low pressure in a transportableapparatus including a container, pressing at intervals liquefied gaswithdrawn from said container to force the same into transportablevaporizing apparatus against a relatively high pressure, applying heatto the material passed to said vaporizing apparatus for converting thesame into gas at said relatively high pressure, and supplying consumingapparatus from the vaporizing apparatus at the desired high pressure.

6. A method of dispensinga gas of low boiling point for industrial useat a desired pressure, which comprises cooling an evaporated gas,liquefying and storing the same at a relatively low pressure intransportable apparatus including a container, pressing at intervalsliquefied gas withdrawn from said container to force the same intovaporizing apparatus against a relatively high pressure, applying heatto the material passing in said vaporizing apparatus to convert the sameinto gas at said relatively high pressure, and discharging the gasproduced to consuming apparatus at the desired high pressure.

CHRISTIAN WILHELM PAUL HEYLANDT.

